| FINAL SHOT
Marcus Fraser As part of Ballantine’s campaign about the importance of character in golf, some of the biggest names in the game were interviewed about the moments when ‘True Character’ has been revealed on the golf course. This month, Marcus Fraser, the laid-back Australian who captured the 2010 Ballantine’s Championship on Jeju Island. Fraser captured his first European Tour title in seven years after victory at the Ballantine’s Championship two years ago. The Australian says he’s hungry for more
We’re all a really close family. I’m definitely a "cruisey" sort of person and I think I come across that way.
How much does a player’s character influence the way they play golf? Massively, I think. Obviously it’s pretty clear when they’re in the heat of battle how their character comes out. It’s quite obvious when they’re coming down the stretch, how they react to certain shots, how they get excited or get a little emotional or whatever it might be. Character plays a massive, massive part in golf. Do you think a golfer needs to play the game true to his own character to achieve success? Yeah, for sure, definitely. If you start trying to play someone else’s game, that’s when you start to lose sight or lose track of what you’re trying to do on the golf course. For myself, I’m a shorter hitter, so if I stand there and try to hit it a long way, I start losing rhythm, and that’s not who I am. I’m just somebody who hits it down the fairway, hits it on the green and makes a few putts. Some guys like to take a big wild swing at it and play to their character that way, whereas I play within myself the other way. Parallel Media Group
How do you describe your character off the course? I’m quite a laid-back. I enjoy my family time and time with my friends. I’m not someone who is completely obsessed with the game. I like a lot of other things in life and being happy off the golf course with my two kids and my wife. 70
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How much do we see a golfer’s true character when it comes to those big, high-pressure moments or difficult situations? The way you react shows the kind of person that you are. If your putt misses or drops in, you don’t really think about how you’re going to react, you just do it. And I think that’s a pretty good indication of someone’s character, when you don’t have time to think about something and it just comes out. However, I remember last year, I holed a long putt to get into a play-off at the Australian PGA and all of a sudden I was dancing all over the green, fist pumps and everything. I’ve never experienced anything like that, to hole a putt to get into a play-off, and all of a sudden I was throwing fist pumps left, right and centre. That’s just what came out of me, so maybe that’s a part of who I am. So, in that sense, golf can also reveal a side of your character you may not have known much about? Definitely. I’ve never carried on like that before. I think it was about three fist pumps in a row. Someone asked me after I finished, are you going to carry on giving a few fist pumps? I had no idea what I’d done. It’s something that came out, how I reacted at that time, so maybe CONTINUED ON PAGE 68 HKGOLFER.COM
play the game and play to the rules. There’s a lot of etiquette that goes with golf and it’s definitely a gentlemen’s sport, and that’s the way we were all brought up as kids. That’s the way golfers like to be known as and hopefully are. It’s all up to you out there. Would you agree that the true greats of the game have left their mark as much by their character as by the titles they’ve won? For sure. Obviously, [Jack] Nicklaus, [Tom] Watson, [Greg] Norman and obviously Tiger [Woods] are all the greats of the game and won all these majors and tournaments around the world. They’re very competitive people and it’s no surprise that they won multiple golf tournaments. I don’t know any of them personally, but I’m sure they’re very similar off the course to what they are on the course.
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that’s a little a bit of my character, that I’m pretty passionate about what I do on the golf course.
Courtesy of the Ballantine’s Championship
The likeable Fraser (top), who is married with two children, describes himself as a laid-back family man; the Australian (opposite), seen here at Fanling last year when he finished 11th, has declared the Composite Course at the Hong Kong Golf Club as one of his favourite on tour 68
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Do your fellow golfers also reveal their character off the course? You can see a guy’s lifestyle on the course, such as those guys who dress a little differently and are quite outlandish. They’re the same guys off the course who like fast cars and to go out and have an occasional drink, that kind of thing. I think you can read a lot into how someone come across on the golf course, the way they handle himself off the course as well. Do you think golf and its traditions can be good for someone’s character? Sure. A lot of the time there are no referees around, but you’re out there playing the game and trying to shoot the best score you can, so it’s entirely up to you how you conduct yourself,
Do you think today there’s still a wide range of characters playing on the tours? There’s Miguel Ángel Jiménez. He's very relaxed, but once he gets on the golf course he’s very competitive. He’s obviously a great player with a record that speaks for itself. Then you’ve got Ian Poulter, who does everything fast and outlandish, and dresses pretty cool and has his own clothing label and stuff like that. There’s Darren Clarke, who everyone idolises just because he’s one of the boys, really, who likes to sit down and have a Guinness after a round. He has been one of the greatest players in the world. Europe’s full of different nationalities and every country has their own characters that stand out. What about in Australia? Adam Scott and Jason Day. Adam Scott, you couldn’t meet a nicer guy off the golf course. He’s obviously a great player but off the golf course, he’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet in your life. He always has time for everybody. He genuinely shows an interest in how everyone’s health is going. He’s one of the top 10 players in the world, but you’d never figure it if you bumped into him along the street.
You couldn’t meet a nicer guy off the golf course than Adam Scott. He always has time for everybody and always shows an interest in how you’re doing. What about any of the young Australian players we should look out for, who seems to have the character to make it at the top level? I think Brydon MacPherson, who has just turned professional. He won The Amateur Championship last year and played in The Masters this year. Kieran Pratt plays on the Asian Tour and won the Myanmar Open at the beginning of the year. There’s a lot of guys coming through the ranks and the depth of golf in Australia is so strong that there always seems to be guys coming through. How would other people describe Marcus Fraser? I’m just a fairly normal sort of person. Someone who likes to get back and hang out with my family and hang out with friends. I like my cars and that kind of thing, which every guy does, and I like to go a bit faster than I should. I just enjoy life and try to make the most out of it. I don’t let things bother me too much. Hopefully that’s the way I’m perceived. Is there more to come from Marcus Fraser? Yeah, definitely. There are a lot of things I want to achieve in my career. Hopefully, I’m going to be playing this game for a little bit longer. Obviously I’d like to have the chance to win some more tournaments and I’d love to have the chance to play in some more majors and world events and hopefully contend in one. That’s a goal and that will make me see what I’ve got and what kind of character I can show at the elite level. I’ve practised and played this game for over 20 years now and you always dream of playing in a major or having a chance of being up around the leaders on Sunday and that’s something I’ve never experienced. It’s something that hopefully, one day, before I stop playing, I’d be able to do.
Which particular golfer do you most admire and what is it about their character that most impresses you? As an Australian kid growing up, Greg Norman was basically ‘the man’. He had so much aura about him. He was a businessman off the golf course, but he was almost like that on the golf course as well. He went out there and was so competitive, and he wanted to shoot the best score he could shoot. Off the course, he wanted to do the best deal he could do for his company. Again, there’s so much aura about him that you can't not respect the guy and not want to be like him. Have you ever met him? Yeah, I played with him twice. I think he’s in his mid-50s now. It was only a couple of years HKGOLFER.COM
AFP
As an Australian kid growing up, Greg Norman was ‘the man’ ... there’s so much aura about him and he’s still as competitive as ever.
Are there any specific examples of True Character on the course that have inspired you? I’d say Darren Clarke’s win at the [2006] Irish Open. His ball was almost unplayable when I think there was a rain or weather delay, then when he came back the next day he found someone had trampled down the grass around his ball. However, he basically played the shot he had originally would have hit, hitting out to the fairway. It just described perfectly the game we play and how you should conduct yourself on the golf course. A lot of people say it’s one of the most amazing things they’ve seen on the golf course, but Darren just said that’s the way he was brought up to play the game. I think there are many guys out there who would do the same thing, but it’s nice to see someone to do it and obviously Darren being Irish and doing it in the Irish Open was pretty cool. It reiterates why we love this game.
ago that I played with him the last time. He’s still as competitive as ever on the golf course. It’s no surprise why he won two majors and 80-odd tournaments around the world.
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